Touchstone Television
Logo descriptions by Matt Williams and Kris Starring Logo captures by Eric S., Shadeed A. Kelly, Wisp2007, snelfu, V of Doom, and others Editions by Shadeed A. Kelly, Eric S., LJVborgSuperSet, and V of Doom Video captures courtesy of BlancheGoldenDream, JohnnyL80 and Brandondorf Raguz Background Touchstone Television was the television arm of Touchstone Pictures formed in 1985 under the Walt Disney Company to produce more adult-oriented shows and TV movies. In February 2007, Touchstone Television was renamed to "ABC Television Studio", which was renamed again to "ABC Studios" in May 2007; however from 2007-2009, Touchstone Television survived as an in-name-only unit of ABC Studios until the final season of Monk on USA Network. 1st Logo (March 21-April 25, 1985) Nicknames: "Thunderball Shattering Light", "Thunderball", "Touchstone Thunderball" Logo: Just a still shot of the 1984-1985 Touchstone Films logo, except "TELEVISION" replaces "FILMS". FX/SFX: None. Music/Sounds: The ending theme of the show. Availability: Extinct. Only seen on the short-lived ABC series Wildside. 2nd Logo (September 14, 1985-October 2004) touchstonetelevision.JPG touchstonetelevisioncopyright-a.JPG touchstonetelevisioncopyright-b.JPG touchstonetelevisionfilmscopyright-a.JPG touchstonetelevisionfilmscopyright-b.JPG touchstonetelevisionfilmscopyright-c.JPG Nicknames: "The Snake", "Thunderball II", "Touchstone Thunderball II", "Thunderball Snake" Logo: Same as the "Snake" movie logo, only the parts with the elongated circle are deleted. The text "TOUCHSTONE TELEVISION" is aside the blue circle, and the text has the lightning going through it. When it reaches the circle, the circle flashes and the lightning appears. Variants: *September 14, 1985-July 12, 1987: "TOUCHSTONE FILMS" * September 16, 1987-May 7, 1988: "TOUCHSTONE PICTURES" *On some shows (especially on 1990s rerun prints of Witt/Thomas shows), there would be a copyright stamp saying the year, and the text "Touchstone Films" (later "Touchstone Pictures and Television" or "Touchstone Television and Pictures"). The font for the copyright stamp may vary. However, on the five S5 Home Improvement episodes with the "Touchstone Television and Pictures" version of the stamp, including "Jill's Surprise Party" and "Room Without a View", the extreme left and right sides of the screen are missing. On the S3 Golden Girls episode "The Artist", as well as most episodes of the fourth season, and some from the fifth and seventh seasons, the stamp is in a different font. *An enhanced version debuted in the late 1990s. This version had a much brighter flash and had a different font for "TELEVISION". This version is videotaped and was only seen on widescreen prints. *Like the movie logo, the positioning of the logo varies. For its first year it was in the center; for its second year onward it was at the bottom of the screen. *There's a version of the videotaped variant where the flash is even bigger and is pointed to the right. This version debuted on Less Than Perfect. *On The Trouble with Normal, "IN ASSOCIATION WITH" faded in below the logo. This would then be followed by the Paramount Television logo. *A longer version of the 1988 logo exists, with the animation starting from right where the elongated circle brings forth the "TOUCHSTONE TELEVISION" text. This has so far only been spotted on the Boy Meets World episode "Quiz Show". *On the S2 Home Improvement episode "Shooting Three to Make Tutu", the logo cuts in halfway through while the entire 1989 jingle plays as normal. A similar variant exists on a good number of episodes from seasons two through six, except the entire logo is shown. However, on the S6 episode "Al's Video", the logo starts from the flash while the entire jingle is heard. *On the S2 Home Improvement episode "I'm Scheming of a White Christmas" and one season 6 episode, as well as two season 4 ‘’Golden Girls’’ episodes, it fades to black. This also happens at the end of the 2003 special Tim Allen Presents: The Home Improvement User's Guide and the short-lived Line of Fire, except it fades out shortly after the thunderbolt dies down. *A "letterboxed" version exists on some S5&6 Golden Girls episodes, with the logo placed in the middle. On episodes containing this, it would be followed by the period Buena Vista Television logo. *On the season 4 Golden Girls episode “Bang the Drum, Stanley”, the byline fades out just as the logo fades into the Buena Vista International Television logo. FX/SFX: The flash, lightning, and somewhat simple cel animation. Music/Sounds: * September 16, 1987-January 13, 1988: The last half of the Touchstone Pictures theme. Was only used on the short-lived series, The Oldest Rookie. * September 20, 1989-October 2004: A short descending piano with bells on the collision. This debuted on the short-lived series, The Nutt House. * A longer, extended version of the 1989 theme exists. It descends much longer and starts at a very high pitch (a la New Line Cinema). *In some cases, the ending theme would play over the logo (like on The Golden Girls and the unaired live-action Clerks pilot from 1995), or it would be silent (like on the S5 Home Improvement episodes "A Taylor Runs Through It" and "Room Without a View"). Music/Sounds Variants: *Some international rerun prints of The Golden Girls would have the 1985 Buena Vista Television chimes playing over the logo. *On some episodes of Home Improvement, the 1989 theme is off-sync (though how off-sync it is varies). *On a few season one Home Improvement episodes, the jingle fades out after the last piano note. *On the short-lived Line of Fire, only the first six notes and part of the last one are heard, and in warp speed. Availability: Common. Can be seen on most non-family programs produced by the Walt Disney Company, specifically reruns of Home Improvement on Hallmark Channel, My Wife & Kids on Nick@Nite, Boy Meets World, the first two seasons of Monk, The Golden Girls on Hallmark Channel, DVD, and possibly Hulu, and Empty Nest on LAFF. This logo has also sometimes been plastered with (or is followed by) the 1995 or 2005 Buena Vista Television logo; an example is Lifetime airings of The Golden Girls, which had the Buena Vista logo featuring the Touchstone copyright information. The same thing also happened on Nurses (when it was last reran on Lifetime in the late '90s). The version with the copyright info is retained on several episodes from the first and fifth seasons of Home Improvement on DVD and in repeats, as well as on most episodes of Tne Golden Girls. This was used on Jimmy Kimmel Live up to the October 2004 episodes. Also seen on Clerks: The Animated Series on DVD and The PJ's occasionally on TV One. Strangely, on Australian airings of season 17 of The Amazing Race, this logo was used (this is most likely due to the Seven Network's sloppy credit and logo practices). Was also seen on Blossom when it aired on the Hub Network (now Discovery Family). Editor's Note: Thanks to the music change, this logo feels less ominous than its movie counterpart. 3rd Logo (October 2004-December 4, 2009) Nicknames: "Flash", "Thunderball III", "CGI Golden-Light Thunderball", "Touchstone Thunderball III", "CGI Touchstone Thunderball" Logo: We see a light shining over a black screen. The light condenses and we see the gold stone from past Touchstone logos over a blue sphere. Later, the words: TOUCHSTONE TELEVISION zoom out underneath the sphere. FX/SFX: Same as the theatrical logo, but sped up. Music/Sounds: The 1989 jingle from the previous logo, the ending theme of the show, or none. Availability: Common. Appeared on Touchstone Television's programs from 2004 to 2007, such as Less Than Perfect (on which the 1989 jingle was intact). Also seen on reruns of Grey's Anatomy on Lifetime, while other shows like 8 Simple Rules (for Dating My Teenage Daughter), My Wife & Kids on Nick @ Nite, Scrubs, pre-2009 episodes of Jimmy Kimmel Live, and Criminal Minds, among others continued to feature the ending theme, and Lost had no music. Only Monk continued using this logo until the series finale. Category:Television Category:United States Category:The Walt Disney Company Category:Closing Logos Group Wikia Category:ABC (United States) Category:Defunct